Exodus 29:20

20 "You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear and on the lobes of his sons' right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar.

Exodus 29:20 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 29:20

Then shall thou kill the ram
As the other:

and take of his blood,
some part of it being received into a basin:

and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of
the right ear of his sons;
according to Jarchi, this is the middle gristle within the ear; but Saadiah more rightly says it is the tender part which joins to the orb of the ear. The blood was put upon this part to sanctify it, and cleanse from sins that come thereby, and to teach the high priest that he ought attentively to listen to what should be said unto him of the Lord, that he might faithfully report it to the people; and as our great High Priest had his ear opened and awakened, to hear as the learned; and happy are his people who have ears to hear the joyful sound, and take pleasure in it, and who are cleansed from their hearing sins, by his precious blood:

and upon the thumb of their right hand;
on the middle joint of it, as Jarchi:

and upon the great toe of the right foot;
the hands and fingers being the instruments of action, and the feet and toes of walking, show that the life and conversation of the priests of the Lord ought to be pure and holy, and so their antitype perfectly was; and whereas there is imperfection in all the actions, and even in the best righteousness of the saints, and their walk and conversation is not without sin, they have need to have them sprinkled with, and their conversation garments washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb:

and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about;
as was done with the blood of the other ram, ( Exodus 29:16 ) .

Exodus 29:20 In-Context

18 "You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD : it is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD .
19 "Then you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram.
20 "You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear and on the lobes of his sons' right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar.
21 "Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons' garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated, as well as his sons and his sons' garments with him.
22 "You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination ),
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